I would use the word "destroy" rather than kill for something that is not
alive. It is true what I have heard that one can use very old cells to clone
a long dead animal? Is that true? If true, how old can those cells be? Do
such cells ever die?

>In a message dated 5/5/99 9:45:30 AM Mountain Daylight Time,>alexanian@uncwil.edu writes:>>> Death is the cessation of life, isn't it? Is there some living, material>> thing that is eternal?>>That depends upon what you mean by eternal. However, cancer cells are>biologically immortal, in that as long as you do not kill them, they will>grow and reproduce indefinately, never "aging" or wearing out or dying when>they get too old. Nor do they self-terminate like normal cells do. They
are>as close as anything natural can be to eternal.>>In any event, I don't see what this has to do with protocells. You can
kill>protocells and they self-destruct like normal cells, so I guess using your>reasoning that that would prove that they are alive.>>Kevin L. O'Brien